Learning About Fair

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the word Fair. As a father I want to make sure that my family understands this word and can use it appropriately. Luckily for us Friday night provided us with an opportunity to learn about the Fair. It started when I got a phone call from my wife asking if I wanted to go to the Fair, she said we could get free tickets! Well who am I to turn down free tickets to the Fair? So of course I told her yes.

I got home from work a little earlier than planned and so we packed the car, got our free tickets and headed to the Fair. I was thinking to myself that this was going to be a great family activity and that we would learn a lot. So it took us about 45 minutes to drive to the Fair. The first thing we noticed is that you have to pay to park at the Fair, this means that the word Fair does not imply the word free. $15 later our car was parked and we walked to the entrance. By now the excitement was building as this was the first time the whole family would experience the Fair.

We got inside and the first thing we needed to do was find Guest Services. The reason for this was because the kids were able to fill out a sheet of paper on books they had read and get up to three free rides. Again something for free is good and so after turning in the papers we set out to get on the free rides. Here again we found out that the word Fair does not imply equal as there are height limits to rides. This means that the two middle children would not be able to ride the same rides as the oldest. I was quickly learning that the Fair wasn't going to teach us a lot about the word Fair at all.

We rode a couple of rides including the oldest's first trip on a roller coaster. Dad of course (that's me) rode with him. It was a kiddie coaster and he wanted to ride in the front. There's only one problem with kiddie coasters and adults, yep pain! The cars are smaller, the cushions aren't that cushiony and of course the turns and bumps were meant for people weighing under 100 pounds. It just goes to show that rides aren't Fair at all and I've got some bruises to prove it.

Since it was about dinner time we needed to find some food. Of course this was going to be the perfect time to learn about Fair because how can food not be fair? Well after spending around $30 for a gyro, indian fry bread, two corndogs, a sausage dog and a snowcone you can imagine how fair this was. I don't think there was a food item under $4 and that was for a styrofoam cup of water. This was not turning out how I had hoped and I began to fear that my family would learn more about the word "Fare" than "Fair"

After dinner we went to see some of the other things at the Fair. There was a petting zoo which was free (again this is good), a kids "jungle" area that was more of a display than anything else and of course the obligatory 4-H showcase. All free so that was good. By now the 2 and one year old were getting sleepy so we had to use up the last of our tickets on a ride. This was an adventure as the 7, 5 and 4 year olds couldn't decide on a ride to share. Finally they decided to ride a ride they had ridden already and with that we headed for the exit.

Looking back, our family had a really fun time at the Fair, even if we didn't understand it's true definition. I think I might propose legislation to officially change the name from "Fair" to "Fare" just so that people aren't misled into thinking that things there are going to be equal. So the next time someone wants you to be "fair" make sure you get the spelling and definition just so you don't end up being "fare".